“Am I dead?” Faye’s eyes watered as she glanced between the frozen youth and the bizarre android which held her numb body aloft.
"Not to spoil the ending, but you’re going to die. We all are." Langley tilted her head around and examined the girl with no sign of eyes in her blank sensor panel which covered the front of her head. “We’ve never met, but I’ve seen you before. You wore this tattered dress. And those bruises on your face were larger and darker. I’m sorry.”
“What are you?” Faye shook in the android’s arms.
“I’m a Callumar Weapon Systems Model 47. My name is Langley.” She tilted her head in the direction of Faye’s legs. “You were walking when I saw you. You should be able to stand.”
Langley crouched and rotated Faye around in her arms to place the girl on the ground.
Faye took a step back from the android and jumped in place when she bumped into a stack of boxes behind her.
“Please tell me your name, child.” Langley placed her hands over where her heart would have been were she human. The gesture brought attention to the red crucifix finger-painted upon her armored breast.
“Faye.” The girl scooted along the rows of boxes away from the android. She moved closer to Kairis and the others, and stared at them with wide eyes. “What’s going on? Why are you here?” She gazed at Langley and looked her up and down. “Why don’t you have any labeling?”
Langley stood fully upright and puffed her chest. Her bold stance showed every plate on her body was devoid of any sort of logos, numbers, or writing, quite unlike any government android. The only exceptions were the cross on her chest and a finger-painted white PS 23:1 on her black shoulder plate.
“Are you owned by some sort of religious freak?” Faye shook her head and almost collapsed as her face sank in a terrified expression. “This is death, isn’t it? Don’t lie to me this time.”
“You’re very much alive, so enjoy every breath you take because they’re the greatest gifts of all.” Langley walked past Faye and stared at the frozen Kairis with her blank sensor panel. “Time hasn’t been stopped, or we’d be just as still as them.”
“You speak like you’re a time traveler or something.” Faye slumped for a moment but summoned enough willpower to stand beside Langley.
“I only wish I could time travel, but I do have experience with time working unpredictably.” Langley turned to Faye. “I’ve been to a different plane of existence where the rules of reality, including time, didn’t work the way they do here.”
“So is everyone in the mall living out their lives while Kairis and Shane and their stooges sit frozen in place?” Faye crossed her arms and winced at the pain in her aching muscles.
“Everyone in the mall is frozen, too. Even the service androids.” Langley walked between the rest of the teens. “I only have a theory. Communication with my team was cut off moments before everyone stood still. But it’s not a disturbance field. More like an overriding signal. Someone’s hacked a massive number of people.” She brought hands up beside Kairis’ head.
“This girl has a communications chip in her skull built by Dujour.” Langley touched Shane’s head. “This boy has a Dujour chip, too. Fresh install last week, and the latest model. Everyone here looks rich and I see hints of cybernetic enhancements, so I can guess what high end chip they’re using.” She turned to face Faye. “The androids outside have to be of the highest quality, all newer creations from Lucian Performance Inc. And Lucian has contracts with Dujour for their comm chips.”
Langley pointed to her own head. “I don’t have anything like a Dujour chip. I was built in 1988 and my retrofits were in the ‘90s.” She pointed at Faye’s face. “And the phone signal coming from your purse lets me know your parents never paid for you to get an upgrade.” She tapped her shoulder. “And you knew this was religious. So I would be right to conclude your family has faith-based objections to cybernetic modification of your body.”
“No!” Faye’s eyes widened and her body shook. “Don’t say that so loud! My grandparents made me swear to keep my humanity pure until I became an adult, okay? Okay!? It was a stupid purity promise.”
“No one can hear us,” Langley said. “Your secret is safe with me. I won’t tell anyone we serve the same shepherd.” She tapped the letters on her shoulder.
Faye quaked in place, then collected herself. She checked the others for signs of their having heard anything.
“Fortunately, the rest of my team is also impoverished, so they should be immune to this mass hack.” Langley motioned for Faye to follow her to the door.
“How did you know I’d be immune, too?” Faye rubbed her face with gentle taps of her fingers, there was so much pain. She smeared the blood away from small scrapes in her lips.
“I didn’t.” Langley opened the door and led the girl through to the bright mall. “I said we’ve seen each other before. At that time, you stopped to look at me like you were disappointed and like you wanted to ask me for a favor. When I saw you sneaking around just a moment ago, I knew I had to meet you here.”
“But you said I was wearing the same clothes and had worse injuries.” Faye stopped next to a family with the most expensive rare bean coffees in their hands at an aged oak table. “I’ve never been injured like this. And I’ve never worn this dress. Until today.”
“Which is why I said I’m sorry.” Langley placed a hand on Faye’s back to lead her along through the spacious rows between tables.
***
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